Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sheet delivery device in a printing press and, more particularly, to such a sheet delivery device having stops and sheet pushers or sliders for forming a sheet pile on a changeable sheet-pile carrier, and a conveyor system for transporting sheets successively to a location above the sheet pile.
When a pile of printed sheets is transported from a delivery of a printing press to a location at which the sheets are to be processed further, the problem arises that the upper sheets in the sheet pile tend to slip out of place and, consequently, smear unnoticeably, thereby necessitating a realignment of the sheets in the sheet pile prior to making them accessible to automatic separator or singling devices of the press for further processing. Automation in printing press construction and the realization of a fully automatic printing line lead particularly to the increased use of suitably adapted transport means for the manual but increasingly automated transport of the sheet pile between a printing press and a transfer station to a further processing machine, such as another printing press or a finishing machine. Sheet-stacking errors due to slipped sheets on the sheet pile can cause considerable consequential errors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,704 discloses a device for protecting the dimensional stability of a pile made up of sheets formed from a web thereof in which they are joined endlessly together, by adhesively securing together the edges of the sheets in the pile at the vertical corners of the pile and in strips located between the corners, adhesive being sprayed or brushed on from a spray bottle or the like continuously from the lowermost to the uppermost sheet of the pile.
Tying together a stack or pile of flat items, such as magazines or newspapers, with ribbon, string or the like having ends which are tied into a bow has become known heretofore from the published German Patent Document DE 38 37 817 A1. Glue application systems, especially spray systems, are also available on the market, as are devices for unrolling wound-up adhesive tapes, or for unrolling adhesive tapes on a wound adhesive-tape carrier.